HTC Diamond handset receives complaints of overheating

HTC’s flagship device has received large numbers of complaints of overheating and suffering from a poor battery life, which has caused the manufacturer to investigate new software updates.

Users of the handset, which was billed as an ‘iPhone killer’ when it was launched in May, have complained that the touch-screen device is unresponsive, runs out of battery quickly and overheats when it is used.

The problems could be resolved when the manufacturer releases a UK software update later this month.

The update will improve the handset’s Random Operating Memory (ROM), which was released on the manufacturer’s Asian website on 23 July; however, UK users will have to wait.

A spokeswoman for HTC said that the devices are locked according to their region, and UK phones would not recognise the HTC Asia upgrade, but a UK version would be ‘on its way soon’.

She said: ‘There’s no date yet, but we’re hoping it will be available in the next couple of weeks.’

HTC would not confirm that the download is designed to reduce the overheating or improve the battery life, but developers are understood to believe that these problems can be resolved by upgrading the radio portions of the ROM.

The HTC spokeswoman added: ‘What the upgrade addresses will be available with the upgrade.’

According to the XDA Developers website, a forum for software developers for HTC handsets, the upgrade on the HTC Asia website will enable GSM 850 band for use in the US, improve the ‘TouchFLO 3D’ tab switching and movement speed, and improve the audio quality.

Vodafone has told its customers that processing the ROM update could wipe Vodafone’s pre-installed satellite navigation software, and that the software upgrade would invalidate the operator’s warranty.

Last month, HTC warned customers that purchasing the handset from grey market traders could mean that they do not receive ‘the full customer service’.